Julius Randle trade grade: How Timberwolves, Nets, and Bulls fared in deal involving Nic Claxton and picks

As all eyes were on the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade on Monday evening, NBA fans got an unexpected appetizer from the Wolves. Minnesota was in a tight financial situation, which they made easier by offloading Julius Randle to the Nets. 

Was that a wise move from the Wolves? Did they use that savings appropriately in giving Ayo Dosunmu a big long-term deal? And how did the Bulls do in picking up Nic Claxton for free as part of the salary maneuvers involved in the trade? 

Here's how the trade looks from every angle. 

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Julius Randle trade details

Wolves receive:

• Mouhamadou Gueye
• No. 33 pick in 2026 draft

Nets receive:

• Julius Randle
• No. 28 pick in 2026 draft

Bulls receive:

• Nic Claxton

Wolves trade grade

Randle has been an important player for the Wolves, but an expensive one. His $33.3 million was an impediment towards re-signing free agent Ayo Dosumnu, who was absolutely essential to the team given Donte DiVincenzo's Achilles injury suffered during the playoffs. 

Naz Reid is capable of stepping in for Randle, and the Wolves were able to retain Dosunmu on a five-year, $112 million contract with a player option in Year Five. 

I called the Dosunmu trade last February the sneaky best one of the deadline. He played well to finish off the year, and he's a great fit for the Wolves. Still, his new contract seems like an overpay. My contract model has his value at $86 million over the next five seasons. He earned a huge raise from the $7.5 million he earned last season, which made him such a good contract to trade for. 

Trading Randle also has other financial implications. Had Minnesota kept him, they would have been over the apron and only had minimum salaries available to round out their roster. Now, they have the $15 million mid-level exception along with a $33 million trade exception created from the deal to continue to add. 

The price for doing that business was marginal. Minnesota moved back five picks in the draft, from No. 28 to No. 33. This draft falls off considerably by the time that range rolls around due to so many college players opting for NIL money instead of the NBA.

While I don't love the way they used the savings from the deal so far, this was a trade that gives Minnesota more upside and flexibility long-term while barely costing them anything. 

Grade: B+

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Nets trade grade

Prior to this trade, the Nets were in real danger of falling into the relegation zone, where the bottom three teams in the standings get worse odds in the lottery. I had them ranked No. 29 in my way-too-early power rankings. 

Randle will improve the team. He certainly has his flaws, but he's a very good player who has helped both the Knicks and Wolves get better in his last two stops. He looks the best on teams that need offensive creation, which is a category that the Nets fall into. He's a good passer and can create decent looks in the halfcourt any time. 

The Nets had cap space to burn. Using it to pick up a good player basically for free was a nice use of it. And they also got rid of Claxton, who has drastically underperformed on his contract over the past several years. 

Grade: A

Bulls trade grade

The Bulls needed a starting center and had a ton of money to spend. They picked up Claxton as a pseudo-free agent signing in order to fill that need. There are a lot of different ways that decision could go. 

In a best case scenario, Claxton looks reinvigorated on a Bulls team that is more serious about winning than the Nets have been. He returns to the defensive level that earned him a ninth place finish in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2023, at just 23 years old. And he feasts on offense playing in a transition-heavy style with a much better point guard in Josh Giddey than he had in Brooklyn. 

In a worst case scenario, Claxton is a bad contract that the Bulls should have received an asset for. My salary model has him at negative $28 million over the remaining two years on his contract. He doesn't fit the way that the league is trending given his poor rebounding and offensive limitations. 

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Claxton hasn't been anywhere close to the player he was when he earned a $100 million contract in the summer of 2024. He got that payday because of his vertical athleticism, defensive versatility, and shot blocking skill. His athleticism has declined significantly ever since he started having back issues in November of 2024. 

Those back issues didn't keep him out of any games last season, but his dunk and block numbers have fallen off a cliff since then. 

At one time, Claxton was an exciting young player that projected to be a potential top 15 center. Now, he's one of the weaker starters in the league. 

I also don't like this for the Bulls because the fit next to presumptive No. 4 pick Caleb Wilson is not good. Claxton is not an outside threat at all, and he will cramp the spacing on the team around another non-shooter in Wilson. It may be ugly offensively when both of them share the floor. 

Claxton does provide some decent passing. Even in his diminished state, he is the best rim protector that the Bulls have had since Daniel Gafford. Chicago had to go out and get another center, and the free agency options weren't good.

From that angle, this move is understandable. There was an opportunity cost though in using up their cap space. I would have liked to see them either pick up a better player (Andrew Wiggins, a much better contract, was just salary dumped to the Hawks a day earlier, as an example) or get draft picks back for bad contracts. 

This move has the potential to work depending on how you feel about Claxton's chances of returning to form. He will look better next to Giddey. For now, I can't say that I'm a fan of the decision. It is a very small mistake given that the cost was only salary cap space, but a mistake nonetheless.

Grade: C-